Initially, in paragraphs 1-3, the author illustrates the story and death of Mr. K, a former teacher of the author who was extremely strict. In telling this story, the author expresses a personal connection to traditional teaching, attributing his own success to these methods. In addition to the aforementioned personal connection, the author later expresses in paragraph 4 that both the author and American educators need to help “our students.” By using the term “our students,” the author expresses a personal connection to the performance of current students. Later, in paragraph 8, the author demonstrates strong conviction when he describes the points made in the argument as "a battle cry inspired by my former professor and supported by new research." Additionally, the author expresses more confidence in Mr. K's teachings, stating in the final paragraph that Mr. K's results are a "lesson we can all learn from." In addition to an apparent personal connection to the content of the article, the author also uses their academic background, having attended Yale and worked for popular media outlets, to conduct research to properly support arguments with factual evidence . Throughout the article, Lipman repeatedly cites research from respected sources such as psychologists, the U.S. Department of Education, and universities to directly reinforce the idea of